Mind Cage
by Rallalon
Summary: There's something about adventure that just doesn't let go, that pulls you back in just when you think it's over. Such is the case when a voice calls out to Sheba's mind, fooling her into acting as bait. But for what?


**__**

Point of View: Sheba

I rolled over, trying to find some position that would help me sleep. It was no use; I had become too accustomed to sleeping on the various rugs covering the floor of the cabin of Picard's ship. The bed was far too soft. 

I tossed and turned some more, trying to focus on the positives.

I was finally home. I was finally back home after a year of imprisonment followed by a year of adventure. The latter had been great, but it was better still back in Lalivero at last.

Then why did it feel like everything was going wrong?

It had started out great; no one expected me to do any work or anything. No more cooking or cleaning. It soon made me feel guilty. But whenever I'd ask if they wanted help, I'd always get the same response. First, they'd stare as if my asking was unheard of before hastily saying: "No, Gods' Child. There is no need for you to dirty your hands."

I couldn't even figure out why I wanted to help; I _hated_ chores! 

Afterwards, I was struck by the urge to climb up and sit on the wall surrounding Lalivero. I'd never done it before, but it didn't look hard. I climbed up the ladder in my home, jumped over and sat down. Simple, really.

But then everyone had started to panic. Faran freaked out, and politely asked me to get down in a "calm" voice. One of those "calm" voices that clearly shows the speaker is about to go off the deep end, but is still trying to reason anyway.

After that I was to "please stay inside."

The next days were basically the same. No, I couldn't play with my little brother; he wasn't _worthy_. No, I couldn't tell the village children about my travels; it would be best if we could all forget about those _traumatizing_ experiences. No, I couldn't talk to the local armory men about the weapons I'd come across; I should forget about violence. No, I couldn't even _mention_ Felix; he was "a bad influence."

Had my life always been this boring? Had I really been such a pampered baby before Babi kidnapped me?

Yes, I thought as I rolled over once again. I just hadn't realized it until now. I hadn't realized how I hadn't had any friends here. How I was completely alone.

__

You do know you don't have to stay here, dear Sheba.

I sat up with a jolt. "Who's there?" I started wishing I hadn't let Faran take my weaponry away. I felt someone's presence around me. It seemed familiar, but I didn't think I could actually know someone who felt that…corrupt.

__

Don't speak aloud; we wouldn't want to wake Faran, would we? 

There isn't a we, I thought back. Not unless I know who you are.

__

But you do_ know who I am, dear Sheba. Or at least you should…_

I don't know you, I replied. Leave me alone.

__

I'm hurt! But you know, dear Sheba, you are already alone. Very much so, in fact.

The voice had hit home and it hurt. Leave me alone, I told it. Go away!

__

Whatever for? Maybe it's not me that should go away from here, but you.

I'm home and I'm staying, I insisted stubbornly.

__

And your friends are all over in Tolbi. You could be there this time in two nights. That is, if you left now.

Shut _up_, and go away!

__

I was just trying to help…

I felt the presence slowly withdraw from my mind. Good, maybe I could finally get some sleep. Then I'd figure out who was invading my mind in the morning.

But, as Picard would say, that idea was worth less than a bucket of moldy fish guts. Maybe one of the guys would know who it was. 

And with that I set off, sneaking out of the house and making my way by the light from Venus Lighthouse. Just two days and I'd be there.

~*~*~*~*~

**__**

Point of View: Felix

It would be my 21st birthday in less than a week and the guys were throwing a "surprise" birthday party for me. Note to self: never trust a Djinni with a secret you want to keep secret.

Of course it wasn't only Echo who blew it: 

"What? Did I say 'party'? I meant…uh," Picard searched for a suitable word that sounded like 'party'. "Tardy! That's what I meant! It's getting late, and we should be getting back to the inn before we're tardy."

I stared at him over the rim of my mug before quietly reminding him, "We're already at the inn."

"Why, so we are! It's the others that are…tardy. Where are they anyway?" he asked, trying to steer the conversation away from his slip. 

I leaned back in my chair and took a drink of the local brew to give me time to remember. "Well, Garet's off trying to convince Lord Iodem why he should be in Colloso while Iodem tries to get Isaac into it again. Seems he's a crowd favorite, by the way. And Ivan went off after them to make sure they didn't get themselves drafted. That's what Colloso's about: getting new soldiers. Mia and Jenna went off shopping. And Sheba is…"

"In Lalivero," Picard supplied.

__

No, she's not.

"What'd you say?" I asked the waitress who had happened to walk by our table at the moment.

"I didn't say anything, sir. But maybe you should cut back on the drink if you're hearing voices."

Picard waited until she had walked away before asking, "One of the Djinn?"

"No, they're all back on the ship, aren't they?"

"Except for Breath and the others that went with Sheba." Did he _have_ to keep bringing Sheba up? At least he wasn't bugging me with the stupid crush theory that Jenna had come up with. After all, it was _just_ a theory. I took another gulp of the brew.

__

They aren't with Sheba now; she's been using them to send letters to everyone she's met around the world.

"There it was again! Didn't you hear that?"

Instead of saying yes, Picard pulled my mug away from me. "Perhaps you've had enough for tonight. Jenna would kill me if I let you get drunk."

"I'm not drunk! This stuff is weak compared to the stuff we had in Prox. Remember?"

I didn't need to see the look on his face or even hear his reply to know he did. The festival celebrating the Mars Lighthouse having been lit had lasted a long time, long enough for Karst and Agatio to get well by the last day of it. Then Picard had learned that a tipsy Agatio is a violent Agatio. The hard way.

Despite our arguing, I liked times like this. We were just a couple of guys with nothing better to do but spend a few coins and laugh about times when the other was humiliated. No big stress, nothing to worry about. For the first time in five years, I didn't have the fate of the world in my hands and it felt great. 

__

Come outside. I need to talk to you.

Then again, maybe Picard was right about the drink. "On the other hand, I should go lay down."

__

It's about Sheba. She's in danger.

On second thought… "You know, I think I'll take a walk instead." I wasn't going to bother Picard with voices inside my head; he would blame it on the drink and he was having enough problems simply being in Tolbi. The guy hadn't been sure if he should've burst out laughing at the fountain or spit in it. It didn't really help that Isaac, Garet, Ivan and Mia didn't know why Picard was acting like this. They didn't even know that he was from Lemuria: it was a Lemurian secrecy thing.

"Do you want company?" the mariner asked.

"Uh, no. Just tell everyone I might be back a bit…tardy." With that I headed for the door and paused only when Picard called out to me.

"Wait, Felix. Since you're going to be wandering around outside of the town, you should take a weapon," he reminded. "And the Douse Drop, too."

"How in Weyard do you do that? You're supposed to be a Mercury Adept, not Jupiter," I complained. The guy knew me _far_ too well. At times he seemed to know what I was thinking or about to do before even I did. 

~*~*~*~*~

**__**

Point of View: Sheba

I'd been walking all night and I started to wish I had just stayed in bed. It was only a little bit farther, I assured myself, just a little bit farther. 

I was walking through the Suhalla desert early in the morning, completely alone, with very little sleep, and no weapon but my Pysnergy. I should be a sitting duck, right? I should've been, but that wasn't what was happening. Every time a monster approached it would pause, seem to reconsider, then go away.

Creepy.

But who complains when they don't get attacked? Having no monsters around is fine with me. So long as the lizards that create the whirlwinds didn't run away, I was better than fine. I had only to hop in a whirlwind and get blown away to reach Suhalla. 

And speaking of creepy:

__

Dear Sheba…

I tried to ignore it, but when a voice is in your head, that's not a very easy thing to do.

__

Felix is coming.

Scratch that, it's _extremely_ hard to ignore. Thankfully, it was at that time a whirlwind popped up. I jumped into it, hoping the voice couldn't reach me in Suhalla. Any second now, I would get blown there. I simply couldn't be expectant that I wouldn't throw up first.

Any second now…

Any minute now…

__

It seems you are stuck. Would you like me to fetch some assistance for you?

Maybe Sol will turn green, I replied. You say Felix is coming? All I have to do is wait.

And wait I did, with the entire world spinning around me, the ground deciding to rise up above me or tilt, sand flying into my eyes and embedding itself into my clothes. A person could only take it for so long.

"_Felix!!!_"

~*~*~*~*~

**__**

Point of View: Felix

The wind came out from under me, even as the water fell to the bottom of the whirlwind. How water could fall while I stayed up was a mystery to me, but that wasn't really important at the moment. 

While stashing the Douse Drop away, I landed on my feet and rolled to soften the impact. I unsheathed the Sol Blade and waited to see what my scalely opponent would do.

The Tornado Lizard roared mindlessly before lurching forward foolishly. Big mistake. It should have run. That's the main difference between dragons and lizards, besides the wings; lizards are stupid.

Three seconds later, I drew the Sol Blade out of the dead Tornado Lizard and wiped it on a piece of cloth. It wasn't a good habit to get into, leaving blood on your sword. I tucked the soiled rag into my pocket for later use and exchanged it for the Douse Drop. 

For some reason, the Suhalla Desert had gotten rather boring since the last time I'd been there.

"_Felix!!!_"

Then again…

I dashed towards the sound of Sheba's voice, but to no avail. The path curved and split, making any chance of a straight and quick route to her impossible.

"Sheba! Where are you?!" I knew it was pointless to call out for guidance, but I did it anyway. I was going to attract every dumb, weak, little monster in the entire desert.

"Over here!" she yelled back, sounding both relieved and like she was about to go into a coughing fit or puke. Although I knew she was still alive, her directions were completely worthless; I'd have to get through this maze on my own.

__

Take the middle path, that annoying voice suggested. _It's just up ahead._

Indeed, the path split into three more directions. Cursing myself for trusting a bodiless voice, I plunged into the whirlwind that had decided to block my route. I didn't stop to use Douse, but threw the Sol Blade down, blade first, to where I thought the moronic Lizard should be. 

My aim was true. The beast groaned pathetically in its dying moments. When the thing ceased existing in the world, so did whirlwind, letting me fall roughly on my rump. I ripped the Sol Blade out the monster's spine, and frankly, I couldn't have cared less at the moment about wiping the blood off.

I was getting sick of all these monsters. "Sand!" I'd be blind, but I'd go faster.

I took off, having no choice but follow the instructions of my invisible guide, completely aware I could be running headlong into a trap. Still, with Sheba at risk, I would no more turn back than I would call a Tornado Lizard intelligent.

__

Up and around this corner. Keep going; don't turn. The one on your left. I said left! The center right one now. No, don't go there: it's a dead-end. Take the passage on the far left. There she is!

I popped out of the sand just in time to hear: "Felix! Get me down!"

I'd finally reached Sheba to find the girl stuck in a whirlwind. Funny, it should've blown her away by now. Of course, it _wasn't_ funny to find I had just been forced to trust a voice that was possibly _evil_ and fought a desert full of bloodthirsty monsters just to get her out of a whirlwind. 

Still, I admitted, a person could dehydrate to death if they were stuck anywhere. And a whirlwind did seem as good a place as any.

"Douse!" I cried, holding the Drop high. A small cloud formed above the whirl, but to no avail. The whirlwind was still there, and no monster had been aroused. Perhaps that meant there was no monster inside. That in turn meant that something else was causing it.

"I'm getting sick…." Sheba moaned from above.

"Douse!" I called again, and again my efforts were futile. "Sheba! Do you know what caused this?"

"No…" was the feeble reply I received. She was going to be _very_ ill from this.

__

I know.

Who then? I asked back.

__

I did.

What?! Gaia, what did you bring me here for? To see my friend suffer? But that doesn't really matter; I'm going to rescue her anyway.

__

Really… I don't think so. The whirlwind grew fiercer. _Unless… No. You wouldn't want to. Such a pity, really._

Do what?

__

You really_ wouldn't want to._ The guy was toying with me. I hate it when people toy with me.

Let me decide what I want to do! What's the deal?

__

Oh, it's rather simple: you change positions. One captive for another. I said you wouldn't want to.

It's not a matter of want. It's a matter of duty.

__

Suit yourself, he replied, as if he was completely indifferent to who his captive was. Maybe he was.

I took a breath of fairly sand-free air and hurled myself into the wind.

~*~*~*~*~

**__**

Point of View: Sheba

I struggled to see Felix from my ever-changing position. Despite my struggles, I wanted to close my eyes and pretend the world wasn't trying to get me to throw up. Being in a constant state of nausea is _not_ fun. But now that he was so close, I wanted to see him, not just sense him.

Yep, I pick the best times to be sentimental.

Felix had stood there a good while, and of course he was trying to figure out a way to rescue me. All I had to do was wait. It was true that getting saved again and again by this guy got _incredibly_ annoying, but now I was grateful he had made it his hobby.

He took a breath and plunged into the whirlwind. _That_ was the plan? Getting stuck in here with me?

But abruptly, I was no longer stuck in mid-air. A little too abruptly, in fact. I fell down, and my sense of direction had disintegrated so much that the only reason why I knew it was down was the knowledge that one doesn't fall up. 

I landed and cracked skulls with Felix. I always seem to land on him; I don't know why. "Sorry," I apologized weakly.

Felix made a sound. Maybe I had winded him.

"What, Felix?" I rolled off of him clumsily and the world spun again. I turned back to look at him.

His eyes were wide and his mouth was gaping. His entire body seemed to give a twitch and he breathed out a few more syllables of gibberish. 

I must have winded him _really_ badly. "Felix, are you alright?" 

He breathed in and sat up groggily. "Fine," he said defensively while stretching as if he was unfamiliar with his body. "You?"

"Fine. A bit dizzy, but fine." Now the interrogation would begin. What was I doing out here? Why didn't I send one of the Djinn for help? How had I known he was around or was I just yelling for the sake of yelling? Had I told Faran that I'd be out for a few days? I knew from experience that the only way to stop his flood of questions was to ask one of my own first. "Felix, I kept hearing a voice on my way over here, and it said that you were coming. Did you hear it?"

"Of course not, dear Sheba."


End file.
